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Amitek Sinha, COO, ET Medialabs
Ever since the onset of the pandemic, disruption became the part and parcel of our lives. Owing to this fact, organisations adopted an online route to flourish in the market. This is how social media apps such as WhatsApp became increasingly popular for survival. Many firms across sectors took this as an opportunity to reach out to their customers through such platforms because these platforms support omnichannel communication, which includes text messages, images, and other material.
According to Statista, India alone has over 487 million WhatsApp users, making it the country with the largest WhatsApp audience. As a result of the increasing growth, most customers have adopted WhatsApp as their favorite platform to communicate with businesses as it enables clients to do so on their terms. Integrating these platforms to provide a seamless shopping experience has grown in popularity in recent years. But which platform is most suited for this? With over two billion users worldwide and India being the largest market for peer-to-peer communication, WhatsApp appears to be the next big thing.
Since then, Whatsapp has been essential in convincing people to acquire data plans and transition from SMS to Internet-based conversations. It is not undeniable that consumer goods firms have decided to use WhatsApp business accounts to communicate with their customers due to the wide range of choices that have emerged, including enhanced shopping experiences, customer contentment, and ease of communication. In addition to all the benefits, WhatsApp is growing as a platform enabling various industries and e-commerce businesses are not immune. As a result, WhatsApp is quickly becoming the next primary e-commerce channel and a critical component of business operations.
WhatsApp the Next Big Channel
So, what are the causes driving the confidence about WhatsApp’s future as a thriving e-commerce channel? While there are myriad of factors, however, we have mentioned some important ones that play a special role in making WhatsApp the next big channel:
Acquire New Customers
WhatsApp helps with the acquiring of new customers through lead generation campaigns known as CTWA (Click to Whatsapp Action) campaigns. Through these, brands can reach out to customers that have visited their websites and submitted some basic details like Name, Phone number, etc. Whatsapp helps these brands reach out their potential customers on a more personal level and establish a better sense of ease and trust.
WhatsApp shopping – A dream come true
While the app does many different things, it never stops adding and introducing new features. You would be surprised to know that it is now possible to also shop on WhatsApp.
Meta and JioMart have come together to change our online shopping experience. They are launching the first end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp in India. Customers in India will be able to browse the complete JioMart grocery catalog on WhatsApp, add things to a cart, and then pay via the country’s native payment system, UPI, all without ever leaving the instant messaging platform. This new feature is going to completely transform the way India shops online and many more D2C brands are set to follow suit.
Enhanced Customer Service
Customers are always vital in growth paths and remain top considerations for brands. Providing a consistent experience becomes critical in differentiating a company from its competition. Nothing beats WhatsApp for creating a personal relationship with customers to understand their expectations. Furthermore, by communicating with customers directly, organizations can improve their customer experience by increasing their availability, multilingual engagement, and automated operations. Moreover, it uses personalisation so that clients are compelled to participate in the communications.
Boost Customer Loyalty
Building client loyalty is essential for businesses after addressing their needs. There are limited opportunities to create an excellent first impression. Consequently, one can benefit by assisting consumers in making their first foray into the industry. They may significantly build customer ties and generate greater consumer trust by assisting customers through the remaining phases of their customer journey. E-commerce companies spend thousands of dollars yearly on gamification methods to improve customer loyalty. However, it takes time for the adoption to produce results. Businesses may utilize gamification through messaging to reach out to customers with new ideas on WhatsApp by leveraging cutting-edge technology such as AI chatbots.
Obtain helpful insights
Successful brands are those who pay attention to their customers. However, listening to thousands of clients’ conversations is challenging. In that instance, WhatsApp can help brands acquire a comprehensive view of everyday interactions to provide relevant business insights. E-commerce companies can use these insights to understand current trends in demand and supply, user behavior, product gaps, and other factors in order to make data-driven decisions. To stay ahead of the competition, businesses must pay close attention to client feedback.
Provide Sales Assistance
Consumers who make a purchase decision require more pre-sales help to feel confident and have all their questions answered. Post-purchase support is as vital as ever. When a user buys anything online, they may want to return it, assess it, or check the shipment’s status. At this point, businesses can use AI chatbots to ensure that clients receive the assistance they seek whenever they require it and convert them into loyal customers.
Lower Carts Abandoned
Customers may abandon their purchasing intents for a variety of reasons that includes, lack of purchase intent, unforeseen expenses, lengthy delivery times, and so on. To overcome these challenges, businesses across industries have turned to artificial intelligence chatbots to understand client preferences, answer product questions, and even up-sell and cross-sell products without being aggressive or invasive. The chatbot can also be set to fire automatically based on predetermined factors, such as when a person visits the website but does not make a purchase. Customer satisfaction generates leads, which contributes to the organization’s growth and lowers cart abandonment. Furthermore, WhatsApp requires no introduction, making it a perfect platform for reminding clients of abandoned shopping carts, presenting them with tempting offers and discounts, and persuading them to complete their transactions. Everything is boiled down to a single, tailored shopping experience delivered through the same channel.
Final Takeaway!
With the transforming landscape, WhatsApp has transformed the way brands communicate with the customer to meet the growing demand. As well as emerged as an important platform to become the next big thing. Despite the long road, it is clear that every company is now ready to start the conversational experience to be at the forefront.
Thanks to WhatsApp’s expanding features and scope, conversational commerce and contactless shopping are drastically altering. Hence, to be on top of these developments, the business must prepare to engage with the customers. In a nutshell, due to transformation and new technologies, WhatsApp has become more popular and emerged as the next big e-commerce channel.
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Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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